Pakistani PM offers to quit if his wife is guilty

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-20 14:56

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has disclosed that his wife's name has figured on the list of the beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and promised to resign if the charge was proved, local media reported Friday.

"I smell a rat," he told reporters after attending the Green Journalist Awards ceremony here on Thursday, hinting at some kind of a conspiracy against him, according to the private newspaper Dawn.

"I think there is some problem somewhere. But if it is proved that my wife has taken relief from the NRO, I will resign the premiership," Gilani declared.

He regretted that despite his announcement on the floor of the National Assembly, the list of NRO beneficiaries "for certain reasons" was not presented before parliament. He said that he would hold an inquiry as to why the list was not presented.

The prime minister's claim, if true, has further complicated the NRO issue as a number of other politicians and prominent figures, including some big names, have also questioned the authenticity of the list, prepared by National Accountability Bureau and was handed over to the law ministry, the newspaper said.

The list shows names of MQM chief Altaf Hussain, former NWFP chief minister Aftab Sherpao and Pakistan's Ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani, but all of them have denied that they have taken relief from NRO.

The National Reconciliation Ordinance, termed as most notorious act of Constitution, was issued by former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on October 5, 2007. It granted amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, embezzlement, money-laundering, murder and terrorism.

According a report of the official news agency APP, Gilani explained that his wife was a director in a company during the period of the Junejo government in 1985. Later, he said, the project became sick and the company defaulted.